Page 117 of Ablaze
“As serious as you are when I make a fresh batch of dog biscuits.”
I’d gotten right on top of her and kissed her like she was my lifeline. Because she was.
“Alright, now if you can get onto the exam table for me and lift up your shirt,” the ultrasound technician addresses Mala with a smile, “we can get started.”
I help Mala onto the cushioned stretcher and pull up a chair next to her. She entangles our fingers together, and I pull them toward me to graze the back of hers with my lips. “I love you,” I whisper against them.
She leans over while the ultrasound technician sets up, wrapping her hand over the base of my neck and pulling me closer. “I love you, Dean. You’re my world.”
The exam starts a few minutes later as the ultrasound tech glides the transducer over the lower part of Mala’s stomach. The echo of a pulsing sound resounds through the room while both mine and Mala’s mouths drop as we take in the black-and-white picture coming into view in front of us on the monitor.
The technician hums, moving the wand this way and that, but when her humming stops and her eyes narrow on the screen, it has Mala shifting uncomfortably on the table.
Even the echoes–heartbeats–sound louder than they did a few seconds ago. Or maybe that’s just my pulse inside my ears.
“Is . . . is everything alright?” Mala asks guardedly. Her usually dry hand feels clammier inside mine.
The technician turns around, eyes finding mine before she turns them toward Mala. “Well, I don’t know if you were expecting this news . . .”
* * *
Mala hands my one-year-old niece, Rayne, back to Bella after nuzzling her nose into her soft, dark curls once more. Between my other niece, Darian’s daughter Avya, and Rayne, Mala’s been holding one or the other all evening, and I’m a little worried she’s going to tire herself out.
We invited her and my brothers, their wives, and their children to the house to give them the news of what we learned a couple of days ago. We also invited Hudson, since he was in Tahoe for work this week. Needless to say, we’re going to need all their support, though they have their hands full, too.
Rani gives my nephew Arman, Darian’s son, a kiss on the cheek before reminding him he’s already had four of Aunty Mala’s cookies and that he’s going to ruin his appetite for dinner. He grimaces, but not for long, because Bella’s daughter, Meera, pulls him away to go play outside in our backyard.
Rani curls her legs under her on the couch while Darian rocks Avya in his arms. She’s been fussy today but seems to do better being held by someone–no thanks to Aunty Mala spoiling her.
“Where’s her pacifier, Rani?” Darian asks over Avya’s soft whines. He seems to be mindlessly scrounging around in the diaper bag they brought with them.
“Look in the front pocket.” Rani eyes her daughter with a frown. “She’s so addicted to that thing, I have a feeling she’ll want it even when she’s on her way to high school.”
Darian’s mouth twitches with a barely-there smile. It takes an act of God to make my brother smile outright like Garrett and me. “Fine by me. It’ll do the job of warding off boys.”
Rani rolls her eyes, sighing exhaustedly to Mala and Bella as if to say, do you see what I have to deal with?
Garrett hands me and Hudson beer bottles before finding a seat next to Bella, placing a kiss on her temple.
Hudson promptly takes a swig, settling back into the couch. The man is seriously a machine with the amount he works, but he’s always made my brothers and me a priority in his life. Now, if we could all see him get settled . . .
He might deny he wants to be in a relationship until his voice is hoarse, but we all know he’s only lying to himself. Both my brothers and I have seen the way he looks at the woman who just started working for him. The way his gaze squares in on her, the intensity in his expression . . . it’s only a matter of time before he figures out what we all have.
“So,” Rohan’s brow lifts at me and then Mala, “what’s this news you guys wanted to share with us?”
Mala turns a smile in my direction and my eyes roam her face affectionately. I pull her hand in mine and place a kiss on her lips. Fuck, I can’t get enough of this woman. “You want to tell them or should I?”
She chews on her lips but turns back to our awaiting family. “Dean and I are pregnant.”
Bella gasps, jolting Rayne awake in her arms momentarily before the baby makes an annoyed noise and goes back to sleep. “That’s amazing! Congratulations, you guys!”
Everyone else starts congratulating us as well, but my eyes connect with my twin’s across the room and his gaze narrows at me. He knows something is up. He always does.
“With triplets.,” I add, creating a pin-drop silence inside the room.
“Say what?” Rohan’s face mimics the others, who all seem like they’re in a state of shock.
“Holy shit,” Hudson whispers. He’s not a newbie to raising kids either, so I’m sure he’s only imagining what it’ll be like to raise three at the same time.
